Christmas Lights and Crackling Fires
by raiwrites
Summary: Lily has a quiet evening while James and Sirius take four month old Harry out to the muggle mall to meet Father Christmas... aka 'the big red geezer'. "James would always get so awestruck at the simplest of things, but that, I suppose, is one of the many little things that I love about him." [Switches between James/Lily POV. Jily moments]


**_Author's Note:_**_Hi everyone! This is just a quick little one-shot I wrote today as I've been off school sick :( and I'm working on something bigger_, _though I won't upload the first chapter until I'm at least on chapter 5 as I like to be ahead of writing things. But yeah this is my first Jily story thing, so I hope you enjoy it! Please R&R._

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**-Lily's P.O.V-**

I sat back in the couch, leaning my head back and closing my eyes, sighing happily. It was the first bit of quiet I'd had in months. The fire was flickering opposite me, warming the whole room, a contrast from the dark December evening that was outside the window. I got up and drew the curtains to stop the glare from the street lamps coming through, tapping my wand in the air and turning the Christmas lights on, then ambled back over to the couch, pulling a large fleecy blanket around myself and curling up. Embracing the peace while it lasted. James had taken Harry out to the muggle mall so that he could meet Father Christmas. I'd been a bit sceptical about allowing James out to the muggle world at such a busy time in such a public place, especially when he said he'd bring Sirius along, he would undoubtedly be of little help at keeping a low profile and James would always get so awestruck at the simplest of things, but that, I suppose, is one of the many little things that I love about him.

**-James' P.O.V-**

"Where are we going, Harry?" I asked, peering over the top of the push chair to my son who looked up at me with his large emerald eyes. Lily's eyes. He made a little gurgling sound and Sirius laughed lightly next to me.

"Yeah, so where exactly are we going?" He inquired as we weaved our way through the crowd trying to get closer to the entrance.

"3..2..1..!" The mob around us chanted and at that moment a thousand tiny lights lit up the whole building.

Red lights forming the shape of berries with green lights acting as the spiked leaves of holly. Bright silver lights hung as snowflakes above our heads and as we craned our necks to look upwards at the white and red dots that lit up in the shape of a man with a big red cloak and red hat with white edges. The man's arm moved from side to side in robotic movements as if it was waving very slowly and stiffly.

"Merlin's beard!" Sirius exclaimed, eyes wide and grinning. "These muggles kind of have a magic of their own, don't they?"

I nodded, still dumbfounded by all this as I felt myself being ushered forward through the doors and into the mall. There were more of these lights hung everywhere on the inside of the building, excited chattering and music filled my ears;

_'I don't want a lot for Christmas_

_There is just one thing I need_

_And I don't care about the presents_

_Underneath the Christmas tree_

_I don't need to hang my stocking_

_There upon the fireplace_

_Santa Claus won't make me happy_

_With a toy on Christmas Day'_

I steered Harry's pushchair along, not paying attention to where I was going. It was all so amazing as I looked around open-mouthed at every sparkling light and every bit of tinsel decorating every shop door way and wrapped around each railing. I had no clue where Sirius was, trailing behind somewhere, taking in every inch of this Christmas Wonderland, until somebody grabbed my shoulder, jerking me out of my daze.

"Bloody hell, Padfoot!" I span around to see him smirking and attempting to contain his laughter.

Harry made another of his little gurgling sounds and I walked around to the front of the pushchair to see him pointing at something. My gaze followed where his tiny pink finger was point to a giant tree in the centre of the mall, coming up from the floor below. The green, tinsel, light draped, tree stood tall and proud, the baubles hung squarely on the tightly knit branches, evenly spread across the whole tree as if somebody very organised had been in charge of decorating this year.

"You wanna go there, Harry?" Sirius crouched down to his height as well and my son clapped his diddy hands together, his green eyes lit up like the Christmas Tree.

"C'mon then." I smiled, standing up and leading the pushchair along, towards the staircase, carefully carrying it down, and to across the ground floor where there was a queue as long as any I'd ever seen before. It was leading up to the bottom of the grand tree where a man, who looked just like the one made of lights, was standing. He was a rotund fellow with a fuzzy white beard, wrapped in a red coat with white fur trim, red trousers, the same red and white trim hat and black boots. He gave a deep laugh at something one of the little muggle children had said and handed him a box wrapped up in blue paper with a silver bow on top.

Sirius, Harry and I made our way to the end of the queue, our breath taken by each little detail of the place, it almost compared to Hogwarts at Christmas time. And that was saying something.

**-Lily's P.O.V-**

The fire was crackling as I finished wrapping up the final present, tucking it under the tree and returning to my blanket on the sofa. I wrapped up warm and lay down for just a second. I bet the boys are having great fun I thought, smiling to myself as I snuggled down and shut my eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.

I dreamt I was back in seventh year. It was in the run up to Christmas and James and I were doing our Head Boy and Girl duties. He took my hand and led me back to the Gryffindor common room, decorated in red and gold festive lights and the fire was dancing just like the one I was asleep next to. He told me to wait at the bottom of his dorm stairs while he hurried of up them. Reluctantly, I did as I was told.

After a few minutes of waiting I eventually heard his footsteps rushing back down the stairs. He appeared a few steps from the bottom, his dark hair scruffy, his brown eyes with that little glint in them and a massive grin on his face. He slowed down when he saw me, walking down the last few steps, holding out a little box with a name tag dangling off it. _To Lily x_ it read and I remember, it was that moment, when I looked back up from the box into his eyes, that I realised I was falling in love with him.

**-James' P.O.V-**

After an age and ever so slowly we found out way to the front of the queue. Harry was asleep in his pushchair and as we began moving closer again he opened his eyes. Normally he'd threaten to cry and scream when he woke up as most four-and-a-half-month- olds do, but not today. Today his eyelids opened and his bright green eyes were full of excitement.

"Hey, Prongs! Look what I found!" Sirius cried as he came sauntering back over to Harry and I. He had a plastic bag on his arm and from it he withdrew a small hat. Red and floppy laced with white fur along the bottom and a tiny white bobble at the end. He seemed very pleased with himself for this discovery and he crouched down, adjusting it at a jaunty angle over the tuft of dark hair on Harry's head. "There." He sighed, standing up. "Now he looks like the big red geezer."

We were finally allowed, ten at a time, into the fenced off section where the 'big red geezer' was sitting underneath the Christmas tree. The other seven people included a mother with two twin boys aged about five each with shaggy blond hair, one dressed in red the other dressed in blue, a girl about eight with her mother who was holding a little baby, a bit younger than Harry and the hand of a little red haired boy around three years old.

"It's Father Christmas!" grinned the twin dressed in blue.

"Father Christmas, that's his name!" I repeated, whispering to Sirius. "I remember Lily telling me about how he visits all the muggle children on Christmas Eve night, leaving presents in their stockings and under the tree."

"Woah.." said Padfoot, intrigued. "But how come he doesn't visit wizard children?"

"I don't know really..." I replied, wondering if there was a reason he avoided the magical world. "But he has these flying reindeers that he has to drive a flying sleigh where he carries presents for every girl and boy in the world."

"Every _muggle_ girl and boy, so it would seem." he pointed out. "But how can he go around the world in just one night? That's crazy!"

"Um..." I thought. "He might be a wizard..."

"Yeah, but it's even crazy for a wizard." He paused, then hit with an idea grinned. "Unless... He has a time turner or something!"

"Hey, that makes sense." I agreed, deciding that was probably it. I looked up to see the mother of the three children giving us a funny look. Almost as if she had heard our conversation about magic, almost as if we were crazy.

"Ho, ho, ho!" Boomed the laugh of the big red geezer called 'Father Christmas'. "And what are you after this Christmas young man?" He asked, looking down at the red haired boy.

"I want a car!" He chirped. "Please." He added after a small nudge from his sister.

A car? I was pretty sure that a three year old wouldn't be able to drive one of those muggle machine things. That was even more crazy. Sirius and I exchanged a confused glance. "What one of those metal box machine things?" Padfoot muttered to me but the twin dressed in red overheard.

"You don't know what a car is?" He seemed shocked, turning around to face us.

"Psshh.. Of course I do.." Sirius lied, a tone of uncertainty in his voice.

"Leave the man alone Tommy." the mother said to him, pushing him forward gently. "Now you and Billy tell Father Christmas what is on your list."

Eventually it was our turn to speak to the big red geezer. I wheeled the pushchair forward and opened my mouth to explain about how I wanted to get Harry the 'My first broomstick' toy, figuring Father Christmas would understand as he was obviously a wizard but Padfoot jumped straight in with the questions, interrogating him like it was a Ministry hearing.

"Around the _whole_ world in one night, eh?" He probed and Father Christmas furrowed his brow, slightly shocked.

"Yes, one night, sir." He nodded.

"Sir?" Sirius seemed quite a bit taken aback. "But how, like, do you use..."

"My reindeer, yes." Father Christmas cut him off.

"Oh.. so like no..."

"No engines, no. Just Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and me being lead in that lil ol' sleigh of mine up in the sky."

"What.. interesting.. names." I nodded slowly, wondering how he came up with them.

"I see. But how do they fly?"

"Ah that, good sir," the red geezer began, then he lowered his voice like he was telling a secret. "..is magic."

Wide-eyed Sirius and I looked at each other, disbelieving. We knew it. We knew he was a wizard. The children in the fenced area all grinned and looked around at one another too. Magic had been exposed to them.

"We'd better go..." I said to Sirius, before the word about magic spread.

"One last question..." He replied, taking a step closer to Father Christmas. "Why don't you visit any children of your own kind...? Like young Harry here."

Father Christmas frowned, bemused. He took a look at Harry, sitting happily in his pushchair having fallen asleep again still wearing the hat that Sirius bought, and gave a small nod. "Oh but I do."

**-Lily's P.O.V-**

I was awoken from my dream as I heard the front door open and click shut behind. I didn't sit up or open my eyes, just lay there listening. To the sound of the fire and I heard James' voice speaking softly to Harry as his footsteps went upstairs. Moments later I heard James say my name quietly and opened my eyes to see him standing in the doorway, smiling.

"Mmhm?" I smiled, sitting up.

"Did I wake you?" he asked, sitting down on the couch next to me and putting an arm around me.

"Yeah, don't worry though." I replied, resting my head on his shoulders. "How was things?"

"It was so cool." He grinned. "We had fun."

"Good."

"Hey Lily..?"

"Mhmm?"

"Did _you_ know that the big red geezer was a wizard?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that, I looked up at James and lightly pecked his lips. "Of course." I said, smiling. We lay huddled together by the warmth of the crackling fire and the colours of the Christmas lights that winked at us as outside on the windowsill a single snowflake fluttered down to earth.


End file.
